Numbers Study - 2025-11-19

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Well, I have to say when I first read this chapter last week, I'm there...

We're gonna teach on here. We've got a bunch of names.

Pretty much almost all the chapter was names.

spend some time

Praying and thinking on it and just kind of working through some stuff. So here we go, right?

So

In Numbers 26, we're

We're right up here

On the plains of Moab. It's just it's just east of the Jordan River

And you can see here kind of this is the the plate that the Israelites took. This is where they kind of

Circled around the middle of nowhere for for 40 years and then made their way up here

But this is kind of where they're they're hanging out and they're and they're

making their way

Into into the promised land

So by by this time all of all of the previous generation that had had come out of exodus the rebellious generation

Has died off and this new generation

They're on the brink of entering into the promise and that's got to be

exciting and terrifying for them all at the same time Joshua is going to be

The the leader as they go in because because Moses was not not crossing over

And this is the second said this whole book is about the census

It's the second census if you remember if you work for those of you that were here the first census was in the beginning

of numbers at Mount Sinai and

That had been about and I know it's only one chapter, but believe it or not. It was about

38 years

Previous before before the last and and that first census was about one year

That they had come out of out of Egypt just to give a little perspective and a little little context to

to where they were so

How how and why

Were they were they doing?

The census a lot of reasons and we're going to get into that

Basically how they went to you know, you got to ask yourself, okay, there's you know

Two million some odd people here. How do you how do you go about counting, you know, two million some odd odd people?

so they were they gathered the tribes the twelve tribes and the various clan leaders and

Over a period of days probably more like weeks or even even more

families

came came forward, you know tribe by tribe and

Each man that was

20-plus years old

You know how to declare his name and his genealogy. So it would be you know, I am Jamie

son of Earl of the clan of

Alabach and

And that's how they would they would present themselves and they each paid a half a shekel of silver

Okay, they would call it as a as a ransom and this went this went into

Into the Treasury and the officials would would count this and record them

So at the end there was about

601 well, it was exactly according to the word

601,730,000 fighting men

So if you do some rough math, so they didn't count women and children

the elderly

So if you do some do some rough math, there was about two to two and a half million

Israelites at this point all together including women. So

One of the reasons one of the ways that they they approached this was you know

You had you know this continuity from Abraham Isaac Jacob and then the 12

tribes that were there and then from there they had the clans and the households and

Some of the tribes shrank and some of the tribes grew due to

Obedience and disobedience. So for example

Simeon shrank dramatically

Due to the judgment related to the bail peeler incident from the previous chapter

So if you remember there was about 24,000 Israelites that were killed the tribe of

Mansaiah and

As well as others they grew in God's favor because they were they were obedient

So you had this kind of ebbing and flowing

You know when you think about we've talked about this before that, you know, God is kind of

instituting this this order this order of society and

You know every you know, every functioning society has has these things. So, you know, you could say yeah, this is a

census but

Really in part it was, you know, partly tax collection. It was partly

kind of a public

registration, you know to identify, you know, who was who and where they were

The whole chapter kind of almost reads a bit like a

legal document

So to speak and and that's because that's kind of kind of what it was. It was an official

roll call for

for the Israelites on the eve of

On the brink of when they're going into the Promised Land to wage wage war

So that that kind of sets

sets the context for things

and this will be

This will be the first time at least that I'm doing that. I'm not really going to go through verse by verse

We're gonna kind of look at it more

In an outline form and kind of in you know in a bigger idea of what what it was

so verses one through five

Basically covers off on God's commands to Moses and laser who was Aaron's

Son and now the high priest to take a census of all the males 20 years older who were able to go to war

Versus 52 through 56 and that was the majority the majority of the chapter by the way 52 through 56

gives instructions for how the Promised Land will be

apportioned so they're already they haven't even gone in and you know and and and and

basically

Beat up the cane I checked because they're already like thinking how we're gonna divide how we're gonna divide this land

So big part of this is how it's gonna be apportioned, you know by lots, you know, you know God's sovereign choice

How it's gonna go by tribe some tribes were larger some tribes were smaller we're gonna talk a bit about that 57 through 62

There was a separate census

Taking for the tribe of Levi the Levites who were the priests and they did not receive

territory, which we'll talk about again, and then the second the closing note emphasizes

That none of the people counted in the first sense except for Caleb and Joshua are still alive

God's word of judgment was fulfilled

Exactly. So let's talk a little bit about why why was the census, you know needed so

basically

I

This is the first

you know first generation out of the out of the wilderness and

This is the second generation. It came in the first generation basically, you know died off

this chapter is immediately after

the plague that took

24,000 lives

So this kind of marks the end, you know of a generation and a significant move forward

So really there's there's a head count needed because you know when you have that many people you've just got to know

Know what's going on and it basically, you know, they knew they were heading into war

So one of it was for military readiness. So they were about to wage a holy war on Canaan

knowing they needed to know exactly what their military might was and their capability and

You know, this is this is this is kind of an unusual way for

For us to look at it as a society, but God was really kind of their commander in chief, right?

You know and he is ordering the census and you know, there there's all kinds of scripture, you know Exodus 15 3

Says that the Lord is a man of war

The Lord is his name Isaiah 42 13 says the Lord goes forth like a warrior

He stirs up his zeal like a man of war

Psalm 24 8

The Lord strong and mighty the Lord mighty in battle and Cefaniah

3 17 the Lord your God a warrior who gives victory

so that's

How God portrayed himself and that's how many of the Israelites saw God now

You know, we we see God a bit different

We know in in a Thessian 6 says that our our battle is not

against flesh and blood anymore

But our battle is a spiritual is a spiritual battle

So sometimes things like that when you say, okay, God was basically their commander in chief and taking them into war

It's a very foreign foreign concept to us because we we've you got a bit different than now

but God is

Leading getting ready to lead his people into battle and he wants them to be organized under his command

So the military readiness and responsiveness was a big part of this

Census they needed to know

What what what what military assets they had had in front of them

Another big part was the land distribution

think about

The William Penn land grant

Right, okay. This is kind of you know

on a much grander scale

now they're calling it the the inheritance, but

they're basically taking a census of people to try to

Understand how they're gonna divide this land because there had to be a level of organization to it again

You've got two million plus people. You're not just gonna say hey everybody kind of you know

It's not gonna be like the Wild West was here where it's like, okay

Just go and you know, take what you want as far as land

There was a level of organization that had to be in place and this was a bit very much looked at as an inheritance

But as you'll see not all things were were created equal in some ways

So that the land was promised to Abraham back back in Genesis

So this was this was a promise

That was made to Abraham and it was about to be fulfilled and there the census was providing

Some data for this as to how it was going to be divided. So

There we go, I got it back

So the land is to be bought divided by tribe

So the larger tribes received a larger portion the smaller tribes received

smaller now the boundaries of the land like like like where it was and who was going up against who was was chosen by

a lot, okay, so so basically in essence, you know

God is deciding if you're calling it by you know by chance and this would present prevent

favoritism so I don't know if I don't know if many of you know this but you know in my

you know my my my I come I come from the Anabaptists or Mennonites and

Even up till I think up until the 60s

They used to choose their pastor by lot

So

If you were the lucky one you you drew the straw and you you won. In fact, I have a

a

Great great uncle

Christian alabak who was part of the Rock Hill

Mennonite and

I don't know all the details surrounding it

but he kind of

Left there and went to tell Menson because he didn't want to be part of that and then it tell Menson

He was selected as the pastor anyway

And he was very gifted gifted pastor from from what I understand

So they used to choose a pastor by lot and how they looked at it was they were putting it into the hands of God

so that's what they're saying here is is that the boundaries and who's next to who and who's bordering who was all

Decided by a lot which would be God's, you know God's providence. So

When you think about land, you know, I think we look at we look at land a little bit different

Okay, we have a land and we have our house and just kind of is what it is

but you know, they looked at it as kind of an identity thing a

Livelihood they lived off the land they used the land to to build a

Burial place for their their ancestors a future for their family. So there was a lot

built into land and the idea of land if you didn't have land you had no future no name no

Inheritance for your children and that's a biblical tin. It's written in Ruth. It's written in Jeremiah

So land was very very very important to them

Now, you know, we know

From from from writings in the New Testament, you know by by Paul mostly that we as believers are

our

Abraham's seed and co-heirs

to the promise

Galatians 3

29 says if you belong to Christ

Then you are Abraham's seed and heirs

according to the promise

So we are heirs according to that inheritance

Hebrews 11 9

9 to 10

Recently went through this on Sunday by faith. He made his home in the promised land

Talking about Abraham like a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents as did Isaac and Jacob

Who were heirs with him of the same promise for he was?

Looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect

Art and builder is God

So they looked forward to this promise

They never they never saw it and they looked forward to it and we the Israelites were getting ready to step into this promise

But we are living

In that promise now, we are living in that inheritance

Let your head wrap around that for a second we're living in that inheritance right now

And

And what this represented

To them and I know what it represents to me is this kind of renewal this new life

After failure or after death

This renewal so the whole nation

Kind of gets a reboot

You know all of this all of this stuff that went wrong

along the way all of the failures all of the rebellion all of the stuff that just

You know we've read and read and read about it it's all in the past now

And this is this is kind of a reboot and what it says and we know this to be true

As followers of Jesus that past failures do not cancel out

future promises that God makes to us and I'm thankful for that so we

They embraced it we can embrace it this fresh this fresh start a new season a

Redeemed life a redeemed identity and living in this in this promise

So land distribution was a big piece of why they were taking this census

Another reason

You know and again this this seems a bit odd odd to us because you know

I think you know we we try to you know

You know we want to be a people of humility, but this was about

purity and identity of the covenant people of the

Chosen people of God so God was building this this holy

Nation and precise records to preserve

this line

for the coming Messiah

Was imperative

You know in other words protecting this messianic bloodline that was going to come and and

And this is how they looked at themselves. They looked at themselves as you know we are a special people

We are different than the Egyptians. We are different than you know the canines

We are different than all of these other people because we are chosen by God

And that's a special thing so they were the promised seed the son of David

So these were some of the some of the some of the some of the tones

You'll hear through scripture the promised seed the son of David the Messiah all paving the way for for Jesus

Who was to come through this traceable line all the way back to this to the census so?

mixed marriages and lost

Genealogies and all this stuff would would break you know break that that that chain

And we know that both Matthew and and Luke and the Gospels they were they would trace the the

Genealogy back from Jesus all the way back

So the census was God's way of keeping the record straight

so that in the centuries later

In in Gospels and in the word and even through mostly you know as they would talk about it

You know preserving this that Jesus the son of David the son of Abraham as it said in

Matthew in Matthew 1 so keeping that record and and you know I know I know I've talked about this before is

You know when I

You know when I would come to

Chapters like this. I would just like

Blow through I wouldn't even read I wouldn't even read that stuff same same thing in like Matthew

You know I'm not even reading through the genealogy because it's just like

It's too much, but it is super super important

to the Jews

It was very very very important who you were and where you came from in the genealogy

And the lineage behind it

So God is preserving that

so

This idea of holiness of this of this covenant community Israel was called to be a holy nation

You know so all of these things were

You know they had to keep that that purity so precise tribal and clan registration made it very clear

You know who belonged where who could marry whom?

Preventing you know what they would call you know spiritual

Contamination that would destroy you know and eventually would destroy some of the kingdoms as we'll find out as we get through

like two Kings and all of that so

This really was you know some foreshadowing here in the book of revelations that

Repeatedly speaks about those names that are written

In the book of life from the foundation of of the world so not the same

kind of

Census and genealogy, but kind of a foreshadowing of what was to come you know Paul calls the church

The Israel of God

Galatians 6 and says believers are enrolled in a heavenly registry in Hebrews 12

23 and Philippians 4 3 and Luke 10 20 so God has always kept this this precise list of

Who are his?

You know he says he says that our names are written in his hand in the palm in the palm of his hands

So wrote the numbers 26 that we're going through is really an early picture of what an eternal reality is

So this was proof as

They documented this this was proof of God's judgment and his grace

so when you

compare

The two senses that were you know roughly 40 years apart

They they're almost

They're almost the same

And when I first looked at them, I'm there how's that possible if these guys are

Wandering in the in the desert for 40 years, you know million some odd people. They're gonna be multiplying

And

It has to do with you know, the various

forms of

Rebellion and how they were basically basically, you know killed killed off. So

God keeps his word when it comes to judgment, but he also keeps his word when it comes to grace and mercy so both

Judgment on unbelief and mercy on preserving the people for for himself

Is noted here and documented here

So the leave lights were counted separately

There was a separate census and they did not receive

land inheritance

Why you may ask

Because the Lord is their inheritance

Deuteronomy 10 9

says

Says that that is why the Levites had no share or inheritance among their fellow

Israelites the Lord is their inheritance as the Lord your God told them so

They weren't to own land and things like the others did Joshua 13 33

But to the tribe of Lehi Levi Moses has given no inheritance

The Lord the God of Israel is their inheritance as he promised them

so purity and identity of the covenant people was

Basically in the hands of the priests and we went through this in a lot of detail

You know before before the book of the numbers

So the Levites, you know were the priests and they were set apart

For service and worship and they were set apart to lead the nation

To God. So this really shows how God puts a priority

On holiness and worship and service because their reward

Is much like our reward right? What does God say, you know, we are we are storing up, you know our

reward in heaven

Spiritual rewards so

Not all blessings are land and wealth right we know that very well spiritual inheritance

Is its own reward? So, you know gang God is building this holy nation

So, you know, they were you know, they were part of this but they were not part of of the covenant. So

Let's kind of recap

You know a couple a couple things here

These were a couple things I always kind of like to take a step back and say okay

What were the things that God really spoke to me here about?

You know God God works with a remnant, right?

So so these this was this was was there was a lot of people that

That were that were lost along the way and the original generation

Did not make it into the Promised Land

Including Moses so, you know God will work with an remnant

There's an entire generation that was wiped out yet. God did not abandon his promise

He held true to his promise no matter how corrupt

Or how wayward the generation went

He kept circling back with mercy and grace and there was judgment along with that

He would always preserve

The

Reminent of the faithful that were in there

so this new census is this picture of

Resurrection that comes from you know, we talked a little bit about this

You know at our in our in our life group on on Monday, you know from from Chris's sermon on

On Sunday of how how God can bring, you know life from death

So this new generation that is going in to the Promised Land is a remnant of of life

That came from death a new people ready to inherit

What the old forfeited through their through their unbelief

Another thing that that really stuck out to me and I kind of put this in the title is that every name matters

to God

Yeah, when I read through this my eyes kind of glaze over

But God took the time to write every name down

Thousands of incredibly hard to pronounce names

Show that God knows every individual and that he cares

Even in a military census. No one is just a number to God

God is faithful to his promises

This is six hundred and eighty-five years after he promised this to Abraham

Six hundred and eighty-five years

They waited and God waited and God was faithful to this in how we say that

You know God's timing is not our timing. Well, I

Don't know

685 years might be a little bit of a challenge for me

Another thing that I drew out of this is inheritances by grace

So the land that God was giving them it was not earned by them

It was not deserved by them, but it was freely given

by God

And lastly

God's priority on holiness and and worship, you know the Levites

You know their inheritance was was God

they they their inheritance was

serving him and

you know how how true is that in our in our lives as

We serve

You know, we think about all of the stuff, you know, you know in our lives and things that we have and

the wealth that we have

But the fulfillment that comes out of serving God

Is that a completely different level and it's a completely

different level of

Fulfillment that God that God gives to us. So when we serve it when we're worshipping God

And God's presence is just all around us

That's not something that we can earn

That's not something that you can put on, you know, the same level as you know

Hey, look at my house. Look at my car. Look at this stuff

That's a different level and that's you know, that's what God was communicating

Through through the tribe of Levi's is that these guys are getting so much more

And I believe and I know that that is true

True for us that God puts a high calling on worship and service

And serving others

So numbers 26

This is this is God's meticulous roll call, you know for the second generation of Israel

And it really is such a testimony that that

Unbelief and all of this stuff that they went through and that they did

you know

Doesn't define

Who they are and where God can take them God was taking them

To to a completely different place and his covenant and promises are are unbreakable

And his people are known by name

All of us are known by name to God. That's an awesome awesome thing, isn't it?

And you know, I know for me I'm gonna look at this stuff a little bit different

I'm gonna look at like censuses and genealogies, you know a little bit a little bit different

From here from more of a you know, okay, this is how you know, God restores

Mercifully, this is how God, you know looks at us, you know

He knows he knows every single person, you know by name and he has has redeemed us

To a place into a promise of of inheritance

So I have some handouts that you guys have and I think there's there's a lot of stuff we could we can talk through

in groups

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